L.A. Cameo: Here Are the Actual Sites From "Mad Men's" Season 7 Premiere

On AMC's "Mad Men," not only does Los Angeles play New York, but it sometimes gets to play itself too. We've chronicled quite a few "Mad Men" shooting locations over the years, including the Victorian home in last season's finale that doubled for Don Draper's childhood whorehouse. Now "Mad Men" is back for its seventh and final season, and it looks like the show will rely even more on Los Angeles locales (now that some of the show's characters actually reside in the 1969 version of our city). Above, you can see Don Draper (Jon Hamm) in front of one of the 1960s-era tile mosaics found at LAX. Here are more sites from episode 1:



(Sorry for the bad coloring here... for some reason I had a difficult time taking screen shots last night.) Above and below, Megan Draper (Jessica Pare) picks up her hubby Don at the Trans World Airlines terminal at LAX.

Here's a pull back shot of LAX from the episode. BUT wait a sec... that's not LAX at all! It's actually the old terminal at Ontario International Airport. Yep, although the shot of Don on the people mover was indeed filmed at LAX, the outdoor scene between Megan and Don was filmed many miles away in Ontario.



Above and below, here's Terminal One now, which is used for offices and storage.



Film shoots at the Ontario airport are also a regular sight -- "Argo" filmed its airport scenes here.



Above and below, Don and Megan meet Megan's new Los Angeles agent at a fancy restaurant. It's never revealed where they're supposed to be. Maybe Scandia? Chasen's?



In real life, the scene was shot at the infamous Dresden Room on Los Feliz, made famous by "Swingers" and still the home of Marty and Elayne!



The Dresden has been around since 1954, so maybe that indeed is where Megan and Don were dining.



Above and below, Joan (Christina Hendricks) meets Wayne Barnes (Dan Byrd) for drinks at a New York restaurant.



Of course, most Angelenos could spot that it actually was the Biltmore Hotel's Gallery Bar (below).



"Few bars in Los Angeles enjoy the fame of the Biltmore's Gallery Bar," the hotel proudly states.



California Pete hits the famous Canter's on Fairfax.



Not much needed to be changed on this Canter's shoot; as seen below, the restaurant still looks like it's from a bygone era.



I'm bummed a young Rodney Bingenheimer didn't walk by. But other than that, a stellar week one for L.A. cameos in "Mad Men."

A Peek Inside the 1940s Los Angeles of TNT's "Lost Angels"

The era of Mickey Cohen, Police Chief William Parker and LA Mayor Fletcher Bowron comes alive in Frank Darabont's upcoming drama "Lost Angels." Based on the John Buntin book "L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City," Jon Bernthal ("The Walking Dead") stars as the fictional character Joe Teague, a police investigator who encounters a part real/ part fictionalized version of 1940s Los Angeles.

Earlier this week at the Television Critics Association press tour, we got a chance to tour the "Lost Angels" set at Red Studios in Hollywood. The show's production designer, costume director and location manager took pride in how they re-created that era of Los Angeles history. We got a look at a remade version of City Hall, where some of the LAPD resided back then. And we also got a look at a fictional club (a composite of some real clubs of the era), where the good guys and the bad guys mingled.

The show's outfits and design were influenced by Malibu tile -- in particular the color you see at Union Station. Some of the show's outdoor scenes were shot there, along with usual suspects like the Biltmore Hotel.

I got a chance to chat with location manager Scott Poole, who also works on "Mad Men" -- a show that, as you know, we love to watch in part to see how L.A. doubles as midcentury New York. Poole lamented all of the renovation and gentrification taking place downtown. It's great for the city, but alas, not good for productions looking to re-create old L.A. He remembers visiting the Original Pantry when "Mad Men" first started, expecting to shoot there. But as he arrived, workers had just started turning part of the Pantry into Riordan's Tavern -- so alas, the Pantry is no longer a go-to place for period pieces. Now that Clifton's Cafeteria is being redone, that's "also off the books now," he says. "The surge of money being put in downtown (is a problem for us). The places we've filmed over the part 20 years that had still been intact, they're all being renovated."

Here are more scenes from the set of "Lost Angels," including that actual copy of inside City Hall:

Should L.A.'s Spring Street Keep Its Green-Painted Bike Lane?

See? It's not just in L.A. -- green bike lanes abound in New York!

Are downtown's lime green bike lanes really that bad? Film industry location scouts complain that L.A. can't pass for New York or any other urban mecca anymore -- particularly if you're shooting a period piece. But see above, those same lime green bike lanes are also found in New York.

Here's what the Los Angeles Times has written on the matter:

Bicyclists and downtown neighborhood groups are fans of the 1.4-mile stretch of green bike lane on Spring Street from Cesar Chavez to 9th Street. But location scouts and production managers who bring filming to the city's historic downtown core are not so happy. Spring Street is flanked by old buildings and can stand in for almost any big city in a variety of time periods. The most frequently filmed intersection in the city is 6th and Spring, according to Paul Audley, president of Film L.A.

The problem, the industry argues, is that the bright green of the bike lane is costly to erase if you're filming, say, a scene that takes place in the 1940s and you don't want a bright green bike lane running down the middle of your shot. It can't be lifted out of film by the usual post-production technique known as chroma keying, and it is more expensive to remove than other greens. And it's not just the street that needs to be color-corrected. Under the bright lights used for filming, the green bounces off the street and tints everything it touches, including actors' faces.

As the paint begins to fade — apparently it didn't bond well with the street in certain areas — film industry representatives are again asking that the portion that runs from 3rd to 9th Streets be removed or repainted something other than the offending neon color.

What do you think? Should productions suck it up, or should these ugly bike lanes lose the color?

Downtown, It's Yuppies vs. Hollywood as Film Shoots Encounter More Angry Residents

Above, a typical sight in downtown Los Angeles: A film or commercial shoot (this one looked to be for an auto) that we caught while walking around last fall.

Once upon a time, Downtown Los Angeles was so deserted after hours or on weekends that Hollywood could treat it like an empty backlot. No longer. With so many residents now downtown, the population dubbed "Yoga Yuppies" by Curbed LA are not pleased:

Here's the Mad Men location manager: "We used to film car chases all over the place and land helicopters in parking lots. You'd never have to ask permission or get letters from residents -- they weren't even there." And the guy who works on Revenge, via The Hollywood Reporter: "Years ago, we'd shoot there, and you'd barely have to tell anybody." Skid Row, on the other hand, not a problem, according to the Castle scout: "But those people know the routine ... We have more issues with the yuppies not waiting for a shot and going to walk through it with their dog or to get to yoga." They'll just have to adapt though--Downtown has been playing New York since well before it was gentrified or even ungentrified--it first appeared as Manhattan in Harold Lloyd's Speedy, shot on Flower Street in 1928. And it's still got the basic look: "Right underneath our noses in Los Angeles is this New York backlot," according to one location expert; the Mad Men manager says "The buildings — when they were built, how they were built, their height, their look — are very similar ... If you're shooting on Spring, Main or Broadway [in downtown L.A.], you have no idea that you're not in New York."

L.A. Shoot: Fake Citizens Bank Branch in Mid-Wilshire

Josh Dickey over at the Variety Tower on Wilshire tweeted this photo earlier today: A fake Citizens Bank branch has "opened" in the lobby of 5900 Wilshire. The catch: It's for a commercial shoot. The closest actual Citizens Bank (which is focused on the East Coast) is located in Alabama.

'Scrubs' Hospital To Be Scrubbed?

(Flickr pic by Jeff Soffer.)

The North Hollywood Medical Center hasn't actually operated as a real hospital since 1998. But it played one on TV.

The former hospital doubled as "Sacred Heart" on the long-running TV series "Scrubs" and can easily be seen from the side of the 101 as you pass by North Hollywood. But now that "Scrubs" is no longer on the air and a permanent tenant, it looks like the empty building is set to be torn down.

News of the "Scrubs" hospital's fate comes from series creator Bill Lawrence, who Tweeted his good riddance to the structure the other day:

Heard SCRUBS hospital will be torn down. Thank God. Was filled with rats and asbestos - they tried to make it a retirement home. Classic.

Another tidbit later Tweeted by Lawrence: "Truth: came back to work one year, writer felt something in couch, pulled off cushions and there was a possum living there." Also, "The Shield"/"The Chicago Code" creator Shawn Ryan later piped in that he shot an episode of "Angel" there.


(Flickr pic by Ryan Stockstad.)

According to Wikipedia, other shows that have shot there include "The Sopranos," "Childrens Hospital," "The Office," "Parenthood" and "The Forgotten." Oh, and the Britney Spears feature "Crossroads." Hell, they should torch the place solely because of that.

UPDATE: Yep, That Was the New 'Spiderman' Movie We Caught Shooting

You remember this movie shoot at Wilshire's classic Immanuel Presbyterian church, which we drove by on Wednesday.

We figured it was too hefty a production to be a normal TV shoot. And we were right. Thanks to Franklin Avenue readers, we can confirm that it was indeed an early location shoot for the new "Spiderman" movie. (Check out more pics of Emma Stone out on the steps here.)


(Photo via Zimbio.)

Writes reader jayrunner in the comments:

we saw that from the building across the way! lot's of fake rain!

says emma stone said spiderman was going to start filiming in LA around now

and I am pretty sure it was a blond Emma Stone and a few other kid actors we saw going in to a limosine door being held by (I think) this actor George F. Watson who has been popping up in a lot of TV things lately (I see from his imdb page he had a small part in Ironman and he used to be the strong silent guard by Jimmy Smits on West Wing all the time). Couldn't be sure though.

In one take the limo door seemed to get stuck open on the curb after they all got in the limo . Pretty funny! Cool, that they filmed that right out in the open like that.

Meanwhile, another reader also confirms:

that filming yesterday was the new Spiderman movie. Its code name is “Fiona’s Tale” (I read the production sheet). It was such a mob scene. They shoot at that church constantly. LOLA was there last week, with The Defenders across the street at the Talmadge. That intersection is considered one of the city’s great fake New Yorks.

L.A. Shoot: A Rainy Police Funeral on Wilshire

Wilshire Blvd. was backed up this morning to make room for a heavily attended police funeral. Umbrellas were up and the city's Finest were decked in blue.

Except... you guessed it. There was no actual police funeral in Los Angeles on Wednesday. It wasn't raining. And those weren't real cops.

It was another in what's always a common sight in L.A.: A film shoot. What made this unique, however, was the sheer number of extras, all dressed in police uniform, standing on the steps of the Gothic revival 1928 Immanuel Presbyterian Church.



I didn't get a chance to see what this shoot was for -- including whether it was a TV show or a movie. But given the choice of church and the number of umbrellas, I think it's safe to assume the shoot isn't for a project actually set in Los Angeles (so it wasn't "Law & Order: LA"). Could it be TV's "Blue Bloods"? Or perhaps something else?

I haven't been able to ID it just yet; On Location Vacations, which does a pretty good job putting together outdoor shoot roundups, has nothing on its site.

Rally in Atwater Village? Nah, It's a "Law & Order: LA" Shoot

The scene Monday in Atwater Village, above. Wait, isn't the election over? And I don't remember a "Prop. 128" marriage equality debate. (And isn't Atwater Village more Ground Zero for the marijuana debate?)

"Law & Order: Los Angeles" took its ripped-from-the-headlines formula to Atwater Village on Monday, where a fake rally was staged in front of a very real store front. Even the fake local news and the fake LAPD were a part of the scene.




"Channel 7 KPPQ." Wonder why "Law & Order" doesn't up the realism by using a real truck from KNBC/Channel 4. (And why use "Channel 7" on the fake truck, when the real L.A. Channel 7 is a rival of NBC4?)


Now here's better attention to detail: The fake rally even gets a fake Spanish TV station to cover it: "KQQW 18." Shout-out to the "Law & Order: LA" designers for putting together a realistic TV station logo here.


The crowd wide shot was filmed via a camera in the center divider. Hey, perhaps my car got in a shot.